Chelsea have gotten a big fitness boost with talented midfielder Romeo Lavia resuming full training this week. The Belgian international has had a challenging season so far, blighted by sporadic appearances mainly due to recurring hamstring issues.
However, he was spotted fully involved in training sessions at the Blues’ Cobham base on Wednesday morning. The 21-year-old midfielder has had to be restricted to a mere 14 appearances since making his big £58 million move from Southampton in 2023. This has resulted in him accumulating less than 650 minutes of playing time across all competitions in the intervening period.
He had recently gotten back onto the pitch for Chelsea against Arsenal at the beginning of the international break. However, he experienced yet another untimely injury setback that has kept him out of action once again. This latest injury has caused him to miss out on their next three league games.
Lavia was not included in Chelsea’s Conference League team and will not be featuring in their quarter-final second leg against Legia Warsaw. Either way, he will be back to full fitness, which is a bit of good fortune for manager Enzo Maresca.
Chelsea Boss Maresca’s Earlier Words on Romeo Lavia
The head coach will take an ultra-cautious approach to manage the workload of the midfielder. However, he still harbors a degree of optimism regarding Lavia playing in their upcoming fixtures.
If you compare Romeo’s games this season to last season, he has already improved. Because this season it was difficult to go the other way. But the target with Romeo is just to try and keep him fit as much as we can. The next year, he’ll play more games than this season.
Chelsea will be travelling to Craven Cottage this Sunday (April 20), where they will take on Fulham in the Premier League. Lavia is once again available and is ready to be selected for this game. As the Blues continue to fight to secure a much-coveted Champions League spot on the league table, Lavia’s availability may provide the team with a confidence booster.
